


Bittersweet tears

by GraciousThorns



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 17:09:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17853704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraciousThorns/pseuds/GraciousThorns
Summary: Bittersweet: the positive aspect of one thing, haunted by a negative counterpart, often associated with distress and worry. A peculiar sense of satisfaction and a tasty flavour of melancholy. A closer inspection in the duality of all things.Bittersweet is a collection of short tales centred around the female heroines of the Mortal Kombat Universe. A series of unfortunate events, starring Kitana and Jade, meant to bring Tears to the heart of the reader.Content may differ from actual lore.





	Bittersweet tears

"Well, this should have to do for now, princess. I doubt the accommodation here will be as luxurious as the one of your palace."

The woman with the skin in the deep shade of caramel announced as soon as she entered the room to her companion right behind. She walked deeper into the little space that existed between the four walls of steel, between the two plain beds on either sides, cleaned and tidied recently from what was evident by their colour and scent. Setting her luggage on the ground - not more than some cheap silk wrapped to hold in some clothes and fruits - she begins to scan their temporary residence more carefully, with the same worried eyes that always took in the perimeter.

The other woman followed with a few moments window, on much less confident and enthusiastic steps. It was as if she was being practically dragged by invisible strings, handled by a skillful puppeteer. It's true, she was devastated and it showed. The only thing left to betray she was of royal descent were her cerulean perfect clothes, weaved only by the finest and wealthiest tailors of all Outworld, designed to perfectly fit her silhouette. Unlike the first woman, this one was in a remarkably dashing attire: a tight-fitting dress with an opening on the top sides of her thighs and a loin cloth between her legs, and silver laces holding it together as one around her chest and all the way down her back. Her boots were just above the knee, with intimating high stilettos, decorated in pearls and platinum strings. The rest of her, from her red puffy eyes and her messy, scattered hair, were anything but pretty to look at anymore, the result of a devastating revelation and endless hours of crying. The clothes wore Kitana, the royal storm, the finest lady of the court, the greatest assassin of the glorious Shao Kahn, the unflinching maiden that served her emperor's justice; not the other way around. It was hard to tell who was the princess and who the servant between them anymore.

"I don't have a care for comforts right now, Jade," she calls out dryly, silently, almost like she never meant to speak. She nonchalantly shuts the door behind her and mustering all of her courage left, she walks again to reach the bed and collapse sloppily on the mat, flopping once as a recoil with a thud. Jade looked down and sought Kitana's eyes, but the latter's face was already buried in the pillow, the threat of more tears to come on the horizon. 

How it hurt her to see her childhood friend in this condition. Her sister. And maybe even something beyond that. So much pain and agony in her heart, all too much for poor Kitana to handle. Were the gods so cruel as to put this much burden on one single woman, and on top of it all, at once? Jade ached for her. She kneeled, she nested her nose between the space between her friend's neck and shoulder, nuzzling her soft, pale skin, taking in her warmth, comforting her. Jade was more successful on maintaining a sturdy exterior, showing to the world a calm and steadfast facade, someone who was not fazed by the situation and composed enough to combat what come may. In truth, Jade was having a hard time holding it together on the inside, but for Kitana's sake, she had to. She broke her trust, after all, and she would forever be in her debt to redeem for that grave mistake.

-

Time seemed to pass even more slowly within the headquarters of the Special Forces, trapped like a mouse in a tiny room, to the company of the ticking of a clock and no distractions whatsoever to keep the mind from thinking. How many hours has it been already, Kitana wondered in her head. Silently. Wordlessly. She can't remember exactly how much, but it's a while now since general Blade called them in for a briefing. Kitana was exhausted in every aspect of the word, physically and emotionally. Jade had a hard time accepting to leave her alone, however eventually her sense of duty prevailed and she agreed to meet their allies for just a while. 

For a while.

She could have sworn while had turned into an eternity. A slow passing eternity that made every second feel longer than the previous one. Kitana had no tears to shed anymore, her eyes looked like they were about to bleed and her breathing stang like a needle at this point. She kept her knees tightly pressed against her chest and her arms wrapped around them. If she tried really hard, she could pretend this was warm, perfect flesh, adorned by battle scars and hardened by exhausting training. Hugging it close, so close, to keep her in check, to keep Kitana here, in the present, to refuse to let her dive into what seemed to be madness. Was this madness? Kitana lightly tackled the wall with her scalp, trying to silence that sneaky voice. No, she could not listen to that thought. She had to grow strong again. Beautiful like a rose, strong like a storm. This is who she was, the other ladies of the court always said so. Jade said so. 

The entire room had succumbed into darkness, Kitana never bothered to stand, walk to the switch and turn on the lamps. Instead she felt more comfortable alone, maybe in the dark any more misfortunes would not find her. She stared at the ceiling, trying to mentally picture the stars and their alignments, hoping to recall her astronomy tutors who all a younger princess considered to be but dull, old men, miserable and bored to the point they made up stories to excite their days. Now they did not seem so foolish anymore. With some hard effort, Kitana saw the stars above her head, shining and bathing her in their fainting light, a warm cascade of fading gold that embraced her and purged her worries. She felt the stars reflect on her pupils, she felt them smile comfortingly back at her, though melancholically, because they knew secrets Kitana did not, and Kitana believed at that moment she was insane.

-

The girl was always the stronger of the two. She had strong, defined muscles and broad shoulders upon which she carried her princess for piggy rides across the parks and swamps not too far from the fortress, until they were detected by displeased members of the court and scolded the young heir for her unladylike behaviour, then immediately after play time was up again. The girl showed her princess a new world, so plain and modest, beautifully messy and dirty. The girl taught her princess how to climb trees and eat seeds and fruits right from the source, how to hunt critters and trap bugs in bottles to examine them, how to toss mud at each other and swim in the cold lake. The girl showed her princess /her/ home, a not so fancy one with all the privileges the other took for granted, and made her princess feel at home every time her gorgeous hair grew sticky and oily from the dirt or her knees bled from tripping on rocks or scratches from wild wood. The girl taught her princess what it feels like when the heart beats fast, faster, until it seems it will stop beating; what it feels like when butterflies fly in their stomachs; what it feels like when cheeks grow red from blushing and sweat drops like tears from their forehead. The girl taught her princess what it meant to truly live, outside the golden cage others had built.

-

Her slumber was unexpectedly disturbed and she rose to see the girl towering above her with that careless, childlike smile from centuries ago. No, this was not the same smile, this was but an echo, a depressed reflection of what that gorgeous smile used to be, but it was something that lived from that smile at least. The sight of which calmed Kitana effectively. Jade was now a grown woman, no, not that girl anymore. But she was still young in soul, she had never aged a day. She seemed so young, in her white T-shirt and the baggy green pants she borrowed from the comical actor as nightwear, obviously a size too big for her hips. Jade told her princess she was talking in her sleep, and in response, now relieved, Kitana simply beamed and hugged that woman.

-

The modest but elegant still necklace jumped nervously on her fingers, a convenient toy to use to relieve the building anxiety on her throat and mind. It was actually heavy for its petite size, with a hard to miss green gem as its trinket and a silver chain that locked the jewel tightly around the neck. From what she collected, the proper vehicle for a proposal this grand was a ring, but alas, this was the closest to the description of the desired piece and general Blade had only so much money to lend to Kitana. The currency is different in Earthrealm, she found out the hard way, and this necklace was the only affordable option. Kitana childishly kicked the air while still sitting on her bed, this would soon be the happiest moment of their lives, and right after the storm. She found the poetic irony of this almost beautiful. 

She peeked outside to the yard through her window, the large space the military base used for physical exercise, an open stadium almost as spacy as the court room of her fortress. Somewhere in the distance she could make out Jade, jogging under the morning sun and blowing puffs on the chilly breeze with every deep breath she took. Yes, this was the one Kitana wanted to spend the rest several thousand of years that laid ahead of her with, the one she wanted to take as her only spouse, to wake in the morning in her arms and fall asleep on her chest to the lullabies of her beating heart, to hold in health and sickness, to cherish and to love, to grow old together and to be buried together one day, in the very distant future, in a ceremony that could not be matched by any other before. This was the one she wanted to share her bad copy of an eternity with and Kitana knew this. She realised, she knew all along.

Tonight, general Blade and lord Raiden requested all members of their alliance to arrive to the electronics room to discuss their course of action and Kitana's presence was demanded this time. After the meeting would be over, Kitana would propose to her, in front of every other person in that room, a crowd to bear witness to their vow for eternal devotion and love. Kitana would show Jade she was still there, the mischievous young princess she had met, that loved to run barefoot in the forests with and that loved to fight with sticks and that loved to pull pranks on the elders and hated to return home to the life of a royal, spending endless hours staring down at the girl from her window in the night, whispering so that no one would know about their meetings under the starry skies. She would make Jade proud, for growing strong again, for standing back to her feet and she would thank her for everything, for the strength she gave Kitana and the devotion and the affection and the love and everything, all of it she would thank her ten times all that. She had spent her entire morning rehearsing a proposal with Johnny Cage and picking the best outfit with lord Raiden, who, apparently, knew about fashion more than met the eye. Kitana was shaking and giggling from excitement just by thinking about tonight! 

Everything would become good again. They would fix it together, as one. Just wait and see Jade, she would think with so much anticipation that made Kitana feel her heart would burst. 

-

Only an hour before their arranged meeting and Kitana was rubbing her cold palms on her sides in a sad effort to warm them up. Her stress was through the roof and she found it hard to think straight right now, or until she heard the so desired "Yes!" from that beautiful pair of lips she loved to peck as a lucky charm. By the gods everything said in the meeting would be white noise to her ears, concentrating was a wild and impossible concept. Only an hour before everything would change for them. Kitana cursed at time for being so cruel to her these few past days.

Jade was still studying some notes that were given to her from the others. Kitana too had a pair and she almost felt guilty for completely ignoring them. The beautiful knight in her green shining armor was laying on her bed, keeping the papers above her head with one hand while the other supported the back of her head, her tall legs stretching all the way until the end of the mat comfortably and her toenails absent-mindedly drawing circles. She suddenly caught Kitana's stare in her own eyes and they both smiled, so sincerely and warmly, Kitana's hands were suddenly cold no more.

-

Only half an hour before the arranged meeting now. Maybe five minutes earlier, Jade announced to her she had something to say or, more specifically, to /ask/ of her and Kitana both feared and anticipated it was the same question /she/ was hoping to ask. And just as Jade got on one knee, before her beloved princess, her dear sovereign she pledged to protect until the end of her days, the young girl she remember fondly in the happiest moments of her childhood and her only family in all Outworld, the grown woman now she looked up to with adoration that was hard to keep bottled inside, the alarm went off and red lights started pulsing whilst a deafening sound echoed through the entire building. Johnny then swiftly opened the door and asked the duo followed him inside, explaining in a hurry this was the emergency alert. Jade stood up again, grabbed her weapons, the glaive and the staff that gleamed in the same palette as her attire, and she stormed off the room, but not before she begged Kitana remained in the room and locked herself in until Jade returned to her.

Kitana watched her go until she disappeared down the narrow hallway that lead to the main lobby. Her warrior queen, her prideful amazona that fought with the might of a lioness. She prayed to the gods that moment for her intuition to prove itself a delusion: that this was the last time she was seeing Jade.

-

Five minutes left until the arranged meeting. Kitana squirmed deeper into one of the corners she had assumed and clenched her arms tighter around the jewel she had bought. Where was Jade? What had happened? Where was everyone? Sometimes she heard battle cries from downstairs and she squirmed more intensively, cowering with fear and desperation. How low had the assassin fallen, paralyzed by her grief like the helpless victim she has always been. How little she felt, how angry she was at herself for not dashing to assist Jade! How dare she stay in the safety of her room while others fought her battles!

Kitana tucked her braid out of pure frustration and shook her head left and right, sending her tears flying. She begged and begged to the elder gods the door would crash wide open and Jade would come in with one of her comforting, confident smiles that let Kitana know everything would be OK the day after. But Jade never came and she was growing late, too late. And everyone else had disappeared as well, no one searched for the lost princess to pull her from her shelter and remind her she is not forgotten. 

She nuzzled the jewel and poured her hot tears on the cold green, maybe offering a sacrifice for some power above her to protect Jade or maybe not. 

She picked up steps from the corridor. But they were not Jade's. They were not long, swift and proud. They were not hers. Kitana had memorized that sound, the sound of her steps when she sneaked into the princess' room to drag her out of her dull life and away from all the others, or when she followed her wherever her royal highness would go, as her ever-vigilant guardian, to keep an eye out for those who would dare harm Kitana. No, these steps belonged to someone else, one she did not recognize.

Slow. Deep. Stilettos clicking on the floor. Whoever was out there was searching, maybe that person knew Kitana was somewhere in the building.

The steps stopped right in front of the door.

A silent moment.

The moment passed and the door was indeed smashed wide open.

Kitana used the magic in her veins to summon her fans out of thin air with the last remaining drops of sorrow and anger in her and braced for her final fight.

I am coming, Jade.


End file.
